Robin O’Connell
Senior Content Solutions Consultant, LinkedIn
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The tides are changing in B2B marketing.
Special Australia’s win at the AWARD Awards last month is testament to this — where their Shift 20 Initiative landed gold for the inaugural Best B2B Campaign.
The fact that AWARD, the region’s creative authority, introduced this category for the first time, and the fact that Shift 20 motivated over 200 brands to change their behaviour, speaks to a new wave of creativity and effectiveness in B2B today.
The typical approach to B2B marketing today
This new wave of creativity upends the typical, templated approach to B2B marketing that has emerged in previous years.You’ve seen the drill: the obligatory eye-catching statistic, the signature brand hues, the perplexed stock photo, and a call-to-action urging a C-level executive to snag the latest “must-have” guide.
However, while ‘tried and tested’, the conventional B2B marketing approach has led to what we call a ‘sea of sameness’ —a crowded content marketplace where it has become increasingly difficult to tell brands apart. And audiences are no longer responding to this approach, with a study by System 1 revealing through an analysis of 1,700 B2B ads that 77% were not likely to drive any business growth.
The issues with the traditional B2B marketing template
The widespread adoption of AI has made it easier for brands to create marketing campaigns, which, while increasing accessibility, highlights the need for greater differentiation in B2B marketing strategies.
While the democratisation of content creation can be seen as a positive outcome of AI, marketers must utilise it effectively to showcase greater creativity in order to stand out and build momentum for their brand. Linkedin’s 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark report found that nearly three-quarters (74%) of B2B marketing leaders in the Asia-Pacific region have focused on developing bolder creatives, with 62% agreeing that this approach is improving brand engagement and driving conversions.
Beyond just being creative, incorporating emotional brand-building is key to driving effective campaigns that address customer needs and challenges, as well as bolster engagement and conversations. B2B buying cycles tend to be emotion-driven, with a powerful key motivator being ‘the fear of messing up’ (FOMU).
In response to this fear, buyer groups are more likely to purchase from brands which they are already familiar with. In fact, the Harvard Business Review found that 90% of B2B buyers purchase from a brand that they had on their list from day one, before they went into the ‘consideration’ stage.
A new approach to B2B creativity in Australia
Here in Australia, LinkedIn performance data shows us that brands are increasingly pivoting to a new creative approach as well. And the best part? Creativity is being applied to the entire marketing process, not just the content.
So, what exactly is this ‘creativity’?
1. Creativity is about risk-taking.
Canva, alongside UltraSuperNew, took a big risk with their latest campaign. Canva is far from a startup anymore, with more than 170 million people in 190 different countries using the product. And with that growth has come a focus on entering new markets. In this case: Japan — a different culture, and a different way of doing business. But Canva took that challenge head on by doing something different:
A non-traditional approach to creativity in Japan, a big budget spent on a unique creative execution. And a home run in terms of delivery. Proof from Canva that taking risks is the antidote to the typical approach to B2B content.
2. Creativity is about thinking big.
Last month’s AWARD B2B winner does exactly that. Special Group & The Dylan Alcott Foundation think big in response to a big problem. Australians with disability make up almost 20% of the population, yet in advertising, they are only represented 1% of the time. It is something that the marketing industry in Australia has not taken notice of, and something that needs to change. To tackle this issue, Special Group & The Dylan Alcott Foundation produced an adbreak featuring some of Australia’s largest brands during the prime-time Sunday Project, using ads reshot with differently-abled actors.
This approach led to reaching 96% of Australians, and increasing brand uplift for participating brands by 78%, showing that thinking big also leads to big results.
3. Creativity is about more than just content
Google Ads and Emotive in Australia highlights how far we can take this creative approach in B2B. Google takes a complete 360-degree approach to their latest brand campaign, from paid video ads, organic updates on social, leadership team updates, to employee-created content.
The campaign’s content is exceptional. But what will make this campaign a massive success, and why marketers will be looking to Australia, is how far Google has gone beyond just the ad.
Because creativity is more than just content.
It’s deliberately choosing to be different. To rethink the approach from the ground up.
Einstein is quoted as saying: “Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.”
That’s not an easy brief.
But it’s one worth pursuing.
